Football Superstars gameplay update v17.05 will go live this Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Read on for update details.

v 17.05 - Gameplay Improvements:

Accuracy system has been overhauled

- Accuracy system has been reworked based on Ultimate League matches and other feedback. Very long range shots/passes will be more inaccurate if the player is not heading towards the kick/pass target. (such as obtuse-angle kicks)- Accuracy system changes affect all sorts of passes, shots, ground/air kicks and headers. Players may need to re-evaluate their character attributes and re-choose their items for different goals (accurate shots; accurate headers etc.)- Header accuracy has been looked at. Combination of high accuracy and jumping will be vital for precise headers.

Consistent tackles and other actions

- Slide tackles have been revamped. When you attempt to tackle, it will no longer convert to a slide tackle if the ball is above a certain height (to prevent accidental slide tackles).- We have worked on tackle mechanics and made them more dependent on actual attributes(stats) compared to the slightly randomized mechanics that's been used in FS in the past. This will make them more consistent for defenders. - Every action has been made to be more consistent and depend purely on character's attributes. Players will need to recheck their character attributes to improve their specific abilities.

Improved goalkeepers

- Goalkeeper's awareness has been reworked based on recent feedback. The initial idea in 16.x updates was to make goalkeeper aid defenders when he had to. However, this didn't work well at times when there were defenders not reacting as defenders (either because they are AFK, don't know where to stand or simply because they chose not to defend). We have worked on this to make goalkeepers re-evaluate defenders positions more frequently before making a pre-emptive attempt to clear the ball or chase a free ball. In other words goalkeepers will be more passive and stay on the safer side when making such decisions. On the flip side, this means that defenders will have to rely less on goalkeepers and be more careful when they want to depend on the goalkeeper.- Goalkeepers in Division 1 will be stronger right from Level 70, this means they will be at their best in any match (including PMCs) where the average level of players is above Level 70. - Goalkeeper's weakness on close range shots was looked at and it has been improved.- Goalkeeper reactions system in general has been overhauled.

** Note to defenders: In FS we don't want perfect goalkeepers. Instead we are trying to make goalkeepers open to mistakes just like real life goalkeepers. An experienced defender who knows when to take risks will be awarded in FS. If you are making a max-speed pass back to your goalkeeper, you should also be aware of the risks involved. An experienced defender should know when to not take risks and kick the ball out or make a proper back pass with limited risks. A proper safe back pass should be a low-powered kick (and not a 1 click pass). (Tip: You shouldn't fill your power bar more than 50%). You can easily aim your kick away from the goal as well. This way you will ensure that even if your gk fails to handle the pass, you'd only be giving away a corner kick. Giving away a corner kick or a throw in is always better than risking putting the ball into your own net. Good luck!

Solo kick offs and set-piece features

- There will be solo kick-offs (only one player to start the game) like in real life football matches.

- If you are the taker of a set-piece (such as a free kick or a penalty), press sprint key before you arrive at the set-piece spot, and your character will take extra steps away from the ball. Then you can run and kick the ball. This will be improved in future updates to add more depth to set-piece plays.

Advanced Collisions

- A more advanced collisions system will replace the old basic system, this will affect all sorts of collisions in time with upcoming updates. With this first update, you will notice improved ball-object collisions. As an example, you will be seeing the ball being deflected off of objects (such as the crossbar) in a more realistic way (physically), which adds variety to the game, making it a richer experience. Ball deflections off the goalkeeper (when he parries or blocks the ball etc.) will also be varied thanks to this new system as well as football deflecting off of a sliding player's foot. This is an ongoing effort to make FS better and more realistic in terms of simulated physics.

Unique Skills : More freedom and efficiency

- Unique skills were easily blocked by a regular standing tackle in the past even if the ball was high in air. With this update, unique skills will be less affected by standing tackles when the ball is high in air (depends on several other conditions too). Defenders will still have ways to defend against unique skills but there will be a balance between skill efficacy and ability to defend against them.- Unique skills will have shorter cool-down so you will be able to reactivate a unique skill without waiting as long as before. Dummy, dragback will have the potential to be more efficient for attack-minded players.- Unique skills will cost much less energy when you activate them in match, giving you even more freedom when you want to show your skills.

Football rule implementations

- Back-pass to the goalkeeper rule will apply in 5 aside matches too. - No space passing to goalkeeper or a team mate inside the penalty area regardless of match type. This used to apply in 7s and 11s before.- Advantage-play has been improved. Goalkeeper is taken out of advantage rule conditions. In other words, if the goalkeeper kicks the ball right after a foul on one of his team mates, referee will stop the play immediately and will not wait and consider an advantage. - No more automatic yellow card to a player committing a foul inside the box (resulting in a penalty). (Depending on the severity of the foul, referee may still book the player but it won't be simply because of the penalty decision)

Minor changes and Improvements

- Kicking power bar fill-speed has been increased so it will be quicker to fill the kicking-power bar to 100%. - There was a problem with ball being detected out of play even if 100% of the ball didn't cross the line. We have fixed this.

Bug fixes:

- A long time bug that stopped players from regaining stamina when they were taking throw ins have been fixed.- Another long time bug that caused players to freeze during throw-ins has been fixed.- A bug that caused goalkeeper to be out of his position during penalty kicks have been fixed.- more bug fixes and general game-play improvements...

We have been working on goalkeeper's reactions for a long time. This time we focused on reactions particularly inside the penalty box. Our goal (once again) was to create a more realistic and life-like goalkeeper.

Thanks to feedback from players, we knew what had to be done this time. There were times attackers were extremely frustrated when they had a one-on-one scoring chance. They'd fail most of the time and this was mainly caused by the rather unrealistic and overpowered goalkeeper reactions. We have been working to address this problem and make goalkeeper reactions physically more accurate.

Basically speaking, this is what we have achieved: As the kicker gets closer to the goalkeeper, the gk will have less time to react to the shot (naturally). This will give you a greater chance of scoring (when you are closer), just like in real life football. In other words; when your team creates that perfect scoring opportunity, it will be rewarding!

We also worked on goalkeeper's overall aggressiveness and unpredictable behavior. This will help force attackers to re-consider their options every-time they have to make a decision (and not repeat the same action).

Header power, accuracy have also been reworked.We also built upon the dynamic collisions and deflections improvements and applied them to header mechanics this time.

We didn't forget about the defenders. They sent their own feedback and we have come up with some improvements that will hopefully please them too.

There are also other minor game-play improvements that we will let you discover on your own.

Once again, we hope that this update will enrich Football Superstars game-play and rest assured the game-play development is an ongoing process and we will return with more updates throughout the year.

Note 1: Give time to defenders and attackers to get used to the new gameplay. We are always testing and collecting feedback and will continue improving the game.

Note 2: Big thanks to the QA team who helped shape and improve this gameplay update by thoroughly testing it before release: Mikey, Kasilva, Caccamoo, Wobbles, Zengo, Razza and our guest tester; Shinaz.

will be released after Ultimate League Season 3 (will go live by the end of November 2017)

HIGHLIGHTS

Back-pass rule and related goalkeeper-AI improvements. The back-pass rule was implemented in FS from version 16.9 and has been continuously enhanced in following updates but it was never complete and it had some issues. We have overhauled the goalkeeper AI and the football rules. From version 18.01, goalkeepers will be able to decide if they should make a diving save when a bad back-pass is headed for goal (instead of leaving it as in previous versions) or if it's a risky situation to try to clear it. Once they catch/save the ball, the referee will call an indirect-free-kick.

Control your headers: You will be able to control header shots using an all intuitive control system. Targeting lower while shooting will produce downwards headers (as long as your player stats/attributes allow you produce accurate shots) . Aiming relatively higher will increase trajectory on that shot and enrich gameplay experience by offering players more freedom and control over headers.

Control your volleys: You will be able to control volley shots. Targeting lower while shooting will produce downwards volley/half-volley shots . Aiming relatively higher will increase trajectory on that shot and enrich gameplay experience by offering players more freedom and control over volley shots.

Accuracy: Based on feedback all accuracy systems have been reworked. Header passes/shots will be more accurate, meanwhile, lmb crossing and lmb kicks will need better timing and higher player attributes (kicking accuracy).

Low-level boost: Lower level players in low divisions (Div4, Div 3 and Div 2) with low attributes will see an overall boost. (especially the kicking power and stamina attributes)

Changes to StrafingBased on feedback we looked at strafe mechanics and redesigned them, specifically the collision detection. Now, when a player strafes and blocks/obstructs another player, the blocking/strafing player will lose stamina drastically.

Faster Ground/Air KicksBased on feedback, ground & air kicks will be faster.

Long lasting stamina/energyPlayers will have more stamina/energy overall.

One of the master stadiums will be the default stadiums for PMC 7-aside matches (replacing the Division 3 stadiums)

Road to Division 1

Lower division (Division 4,3 and 2) players will receive up to 3X more XP from matches and level up faster. This will allow more players into Division 1. Similarly, Division 1 players will see a 100% increase in XP gained from matches.

v18.05:A hotfix has just been deployed to fix a problem with back-pass rule and wrong indirect kick calls related to them. We will continue monitoring matches and release fixes if any other issues arise.

v18.25 is under development and is expected to go live by the end of the month (Initially planned to go live on December 20 but we have to take a few days more. We apologize for this last delay. We won't make you wait too long.)

- Dynamic object collisions system has been improved. Physically (more) accurate player-player collisions. Appropriate referee-adjustments and football-rule implementations have been added.- Tackling improvements for defenders. Even players with high (network) latency will be able to execute well-timed tackles.- Goalkeeper AI: back-pass handling and risk assessment improvements.- Goalkeeper AI: a smarter goalkeeper being designed that can determine when he needs to be more aggressive. (such as; when his team needs long passes)- Based on feedback to v18.01 and v18.05 we have tuned the sprint speed and stamina-consumption off and on the ball.- several other fixes and minor game-play improvements

Football Superstars version 18.25 is live as of Wednesday, Jan 10th. This update focuses on physical play and introduces several improvements over v18.01 and v18.05.

Physical play and football rule enhancements: Building upon the previously enhanced object collisions, we are now adding physical play and appropriate football rules. When a player collided with another player in FS, it usually resulted in bumping animations which never looked right. No foul was called under no circumstance and it had no effect on gameplay other than distractions and even exploits. From version 18.25 that we are releasing today, there will be physically more accurate player-player collisions and reactions. As a result the referee will decide if it is a foul.

Attackers will no longer have to suffer from bumping defenders. When a defender bumps into an attacker from behind, if the attacker loses the ball, it will be called a foul and depending on the severity of the foul, a yellow card will be shown to the offender.

Players will notice that they bump less into their team mates.

Tackling has been reworked. To aid the defenders, we have changed how tackling works. Even those with high latency (network latency), will be able to execute well-timed tackles.

Pace and movement rate has been overhauled based on feedback and re-assessment.

Smarter Goalkeeper: The improved goalkeeper AI will make better decisions while handling back-passes and while making clearances. The keeper will make better risk assessments than the last version and will make wiser decisions when he is clearing the ball. Keeper will do better parrying shots and try to push them away instead of parrying too many shots into his own net. He will also know when he should be more aggressive when the team needs him to be.

Keeper will not be invisible when he is holding the ball. In the past FS goalkeeper was untouchable while holding the ball. With a better collision system, careless attackers who run into the goalkeeper will cause a foul to be called and if they repeat it, they will be booked.

There are also other minor fixes (such as a fix for the random crashes) and tweaks in several areas as we worked a lot after 18.01 thanks to your valuable feedback.

Big thanks to the QA team who helped bring this gameplay update by thoroughly testing it before release: Mikey, Kasilva, Caccamoo, Wobbles, Zengo, Razza

v18.26 is now live: This is a minor update. We have noticed that there are times obstruction fouls on goalkeeper are not called by the referee. It's very rare but we have decided to release a hot-fix that should help reduce the occurrence of this issue.